UNCHAINING CHILDREN

1 Various laws in Pakistan criminalize labor trafficking, but the situation on the ground remains dire as far as Child Labor and by extension Child Domestic Labor is concerned As the chairperson of an important organization, the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), which deals with these very issues, what are your views when it comes to situation on the ground vis-a-via policy/law implementation? What needs to be done to meaningfully implement regulationsand laws?

There are multiple general and specialized laws on the subject of child trafficking and child labour. However, there is weak enforcement of the same A multi-pronged approach is needed to combat these issues.Under different provincial legislative enactments on children?s rights, various child protection institutions or units are made whose function is to immediately respond to any child protection issue including any possible case of child abuse and provide immediate protection and assistance to the children in need The existing child protection organisations need to be well-staffed and well-funded with trained child protection officers having well-established linkages with hospitals, counsellors, shelter homes, police, and magistrates. The same goes for the national, provincial, and district level trafficking in persons (TIP) committees made to combat trafficking and District Vigilance Committees (DVCs) formed under provincial Bonded Labour Abolition Acts which are loosely structured, poorly funded,andunder-staffed.

Moreover, in the context of child trafficking, there is a need to sensitize the law enforcement agencies to the issue of child trafficking and provide them with training to enhance their specialised technical investigation skills in line with new modes of communication being used by human traffickersand organised crime groups Trainings are also required to be provided to develop basic awareness of trafficking among frontline law enforcement practitioners in the areasof legal framework around the issue and referral of victims. The police must know about the traffickingindicatorsand should also be able to identify them when encountering such a case of traffickingin order to apply theright charge under Prevention of Trafficking in Person Act 2018 (PTPA) The lack of knowledge regarding the existence of this law serves as a major hindrance to its application and isalso a reason for a low number of cases being registeredunder thislaw

To address the issue of child domestic labour, NCRC has recently proposed and drafted a criminal amendment bill to criminalize child domestic labour and to make it a non-compoundableand non-bailable offence so that stronger deterrence can be created Once translated into an act of law, police should be made aware of the law and be trained to include the relevant sections/charges in the FIR if any case of child domestic labour is registered

Furthermore, it is imperative to develop family centric programmes that improvelivelihood,and focuson behaviour change communication to foster social disapproval of child domestic labour and stop using poverty as a justification to abuse andexploit children

2.According to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report: Pakistan (2023), significant efforts are being made but ?the Government of Pakistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.? Understanding full well, this needs concerted efforts from all stakeholders, what in your view needsto be done in order to combat (internal/local) child trafficking?

Child traffickingisacrucial issueand aholistic approach isneeded to deal with the issue which not only involves legislative and institutional reforms but also measures to address the root causes that lead to child traffickingEconomic deprivation, market downturns, social inequality are some of the crucial structural factors of which trafficking is one manifestationTherefore, economic strengthening isthe most significant step to be taken to address the said issues.

Moreover, there are several legislative gaps in PTPA which need to be filled to ensure that this menace can be effectively curbed For instance, the definition of ?trafficking in persons? as given under PTPA demonstrates that many internationally recognized forms of child trafficking in the country like domestic servitude, forced marriages, beggary, pornography, organ trafficking, and usage of children in drug trafficking remain outside the ambit of ?trafficking in persons?Furthermore, there is multiplicity of laws on the same offences as covered under PTPA Since these laws provide different punishments for the same offences, this creates unnecessary complication in sentencing and provides the defendant with increased defences and loopholes in those laws to get lenient punishments Not only that, but it also gives law enforcement agencies wide ranged power to choose law under which to register cases of human trafficking The laws should beconsolidatedandharmonized

On the institutional side,there is an urgent need to establish a tightly structured and fully functioning National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to link victims of human trafficking and migrant smuggling with service delivery organizations providing shelter, psychosocial services, legal support, and other facilities. Since PTPA isaspecialized law so separate courts or special benches be established for the implementation of the same Judges of these courts also need specialized training and education on the issue of child trafficking National, provincial and district level TIP committees which have been made to combat trafficking needs to be properly structured, adequately funded, and well-staffed Adding to the issue of child trafficking is the fact that due to a lack of steady mechanisms for the rehabilitation of trafficked children, especially when their own families are involved, even those who are rescued remain susceptible to re-victimization or they return to exploitative situationsand practices. Likewise, early release of children from sheltersor safe homeswithout any risk assessment increases the chances of their further exploitation or repeated trafficking.Therefore, a resourceful and steady mechanism for victim rehabilitation must be provided for trafficking victims so that their reintegration in the society is made possible.Moreover, support services should not only be available for the victims but also be readily available for the offendersto prevent recidivism Psychological support in thisregard must be made easily available and accessible to all such people to address the deeper and larger issues that compel their problematic behaviour so that it can beprevented.

3 There was a recent tweet about amending the PPC and that the NCRC has shared a draft bill with the Ministry of Human Rights, can you tell us more about it, especially how it should be implemented?

Child domestic labour is a very crucial issue and mostly lead to child abuse and torture, in some cases children were even killed by their exploiters Therefore, the NCRC has shared a criminal amendment bill with the Ministry of Human Rights which criminalizes child domestic labor and make it a non-bailable and non-compoundable offence The most crucial aspect of the bill isthat it defines child as someone below the eighteen years of age as most of our laws,especially labour laws,lack uniformity inhow they defineachild, which creates complication in the application of these laws where especially where they overlap, but keeping in account all the international standardson thepoint, this law rectifies the said situation The draft bill not only provides punishments for the people who are directly involved in engaging children in domestic labour but also for the parents or people in control of children who agree for their children to be engaged in domestic labor.Thebill should beenacted into enforceable law to create stronger deterrence in this regard Once the said bill translates into enforceable law, all the law enforcement agencies, especially the police, need to be made aware of the same so that they can charge the offender under the said provisions when registering a case of child domestic labor.

4 People living below the poverty line and suffering from multiple crises obviously begin exploring options and make short term decisions since more children mean more mouths to feed and thus begin considering children as ?renewable? resource for income. Is there a way out considering the dire state of affairs of the country in terms of economy?Of course, nothing can be accomplished overnight? especially these challenges of a child being trafficked and sent to work in homes? but where to begin to see social change happening on the ground?

Alongside legislative and institutional reforms,measuresneed to be taken to address the root causes of the problems like child trafficking and child labour which involveeconomic,social,andcultural factors. Economic deprivation and poverty being some of the main reasons owing to which children becomevulnerableto traffickingand forced labour. Therefore,measures should be taken to raise levels of social protection and to create decent employment opportunities for all This is because when adequateemployment opportunities for adults will be created then this will automatically result in a decrease in the incidentsof children being trafficked into child labour Furthermore, implementation of Article 25A should be ensured. Schools can play a very important role in early identification of childrenwho areat risk of trafficking or forced labour by ensuring attendance-based monitoring mechanism so that missing children and child abuse and neglect cases can be detected at early stagesonce it isrealized that achild hasstopped comingto the school.To achieve this purpose, school attendance may be linked with social security programs through which parents can be given economic incentives to send their children to school.Measures should be implemented to address the invisibility of exploitation when it comes to labour in general or domestic labour in particular. In this regard, record and database of workforcein all our sectorsneedsto bemaintained by therelevant labour departments to ensure and monitor the safety of workers as labour force, especially in the informal sectors, is vulnerable to becoming victimsof trafficking

5.Can you tell us more about the work you as well as your organization is doing to combat child trafficking and child domestic labor? What are some of the most critical gaps that need immediate attention?

In order to tackle issues of child trafficking and child domestic labour, it is crucial that all the relevant stakeholders be sensitized and made aware of these issues. NCRC is playing a crucial role in this regard by raising awareness on these issues among public, government officials, and other stakeholders alike. It is also tryingto promotesocial dialogueon theseissuesby conducting various seminars and workshops. As part of its mandate, it is also reviewing some existing laws on the subject to fill any legislative gaps therein and advising relevant government departments to address thesame.Moreover,and to reiterate,NCRChasalready submitted a criminal amendment bill on child domestic labour so that the practice can be criminalized.NCRC is also working on the creation of a central database havingdataon all child related casesand issuesasthisis important to gauge the exact nature and extent of the child rights related issues. It is also trying to design a referral mechanism whereby children in need of help can be immediately connected to relevant entities providing support services like rehabilitation, psychosocial services,shelter and so forth.NCRChasan inclusivestructurewhereit hasitschildmemberswhose input is constantly taken in the pursuit of all of its initiatives. Taking the said input into account, NCRC is also designingasocial mediacampaign on priority areas as highlighted by the children themselves like child abuse,corporal punishment and,most importantly,child domesticlabor.

6 Anything else you?d like to say?

All the stakeholders need to come together and make joint efforts to address the violation of children?s rights at different levelsand to ensure better protection of all the children.Laws alone cannot achieve the desired effect unless they are accompanied by efficient institutionsto implement those.Therefore,the relevant institutions and the coordination between the said institutions needs to be strengthened. Moreover,there isaneed for harmonised and consolidated legislation on child trafficking and child labour across the board.Once there is adequate legislation on the subject, the next crucial stage is the implementation of the said legislation and to ensure which coordinated efforts of the relevant government departments and civil society are needed, as also mentioned above. Furthermore, community mobilization and awarenessraisingasto the existence of the legislative framework around child trafficking and child labour needs to be done. A robust oversight is needed to ensure that all the child protection institutions and anti-trafficking departments are working effectively.Also,more public dialoguesand discussion on these issues should be done to create political visibility of the issue and sensitize the government officials and masses alike to the gravity of theproblem.